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Text: Melissa Jenkins and Elke Selter
CONSERVATION AND KATHMANDU
CONSERVATION
is often considered a
‘Western’ concept. Since the 19 th century
Europeans have been working towards the
preservation of cultural heritage inherited
from past generations. In 1931 a group of
experts met in Athens to prepare the first
International Charter for the Restoration
of Historic Monuments (Athens Charter)
and in 1964 a second major document was
prepared: The Venice Charter for the
Conservation and Restoration of
Monuments and Sites. Both were
prepared by Western experts, clearly
displaying a western bias, and have been
treated as seminal texts for conservation
since their publication. Non-Western
societies, however, have always had their
own method to care for heritage, a
phenomenon that has long been
overlooked by western conservation
specialists. In many cultures, conservation
has traditionally been dealt with at a
community level.
In the Kathmandu Valley the ‘guthis’,
socio-religious groups that advise on
religious and development oriented social
issues, assumed the responsibility for the
maintenance of religious monuments.
This community-based system organised
community participation and has enabled
generation after generation to enjoy the
Newar architecture and cultural traditons.
The guthi have their own concepts of
conservation, linked to local ideas,
geographical and technical constraints and
this system is still in use today. Additionally,
because of earthquakes in the region,
people from the Kathmandu Valley have
long been forced to renew their heritage.
After the 1934 earthquake, New Road was
fully rebuilt in Rana style, the most
fashionable at the time, whilst the original
buildings had been Malla style. These
traditional systems have gradually been
challenged by international concepts of
conservation, which are reflected in the
national policy (Ancient Monuments
Preservation Act of Nepal- 1956). On an
international level, ideas have progressed
and are more open towards multicultural
systems. The Nara Document on
Authenticity builds on the precepts of the
Venice Charter, but essentially recognizes
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